Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr I. Alizdeh / The general plan of Baku's Old City is being developed with assistance of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The plan will be ready by summer 2008, the head of the state historical and architectural reserve, Kamran Imanov, said on 5 October.
"The plan is necessary and it is being developed. The plan is required to make clear the issue on protection of the reserve," Imanov said. According to him, the historical and architectural complex protected by UNESCO contains over 600 monuments. The general plan elucidates protection of the monuments individually.
The Old City was included into the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 2000 as a cultural monument threatened disappearance. Given the work on protecting and managing the Old City, UNESCO decided to remove the monument from the danger list.
"Construction work was stopped here on 15 January 2007. Only if there are definite conditions, permission on restoration may be given," he said.